Hullo everyone!
first off, sorry if some of my spelling is wrong, unfortunately the letters and such on these keyboards are confused and have traded spots somehow! haha
So... GREETINGS FROM BERLIN!
Berlin turned out to look exactly what I thought it would look like. It's not the cleanest city but somehow still comes across as pretty clean and proper.. Even the way some of the buildings are built, make the city look what I can only describe as... Clean cut. It's pretty interesting, because there is some old architecture, but alot of new as well, and being a European city, People usually expect to see really old buildings and all that, but because of the war, and all the turmoil the citz went through, it is actually quite a young town, in comparison to other European cities.. Not to mention, even the buildings that do look old, are actually reconstructions following WWII and alot of the stones are new.
Yesterday I went on a tour with a company called New World. They do tours all around Europe and they are primarily free tours. All the ask is for tips at the end if you enjoyed it. So it's a good deal. The hosts are all incredibly knowledgable as well. It was quite impressive. While they are all young students, my guide was incredibly informative, and had true stories to go along with the places he was showing us as well. It was really good, and I was definitely impressed.
So anyway, heading out on this tour, you get to see all the main sites. Ill just go over a few highlights of the tour.. First he took us through Brandenbourg gate, which is incredibly impressive. It has the goddess Victoria on top (Godess of Vicotry) in a four horse carriage looking down over Paris Platz. It really is beautiful, and impressive, especially considering it lasted through the war. You can actually see bullet holes that have been filled in!
Next is the Holocaust Memorial.. which.. is an interesting one. It is made up of blocks.. of different heights.. and set up in rows.. So that when you are in the centre.. it's incredibly overwhelming.. and the rows seem to go on forever. I looked around and I felt sort of trapped.. and even though I knew that there were people all around me, I felt very alone, and in solitude. To be honest, I think the memorial does it's job well. It manages to make you feel a handfull of different emotions, many of which are not so pleasent..
Later on that evening, I went back to the memorial, because it was it's anniversary, and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra was set up in random places within the memorial playing. It was really amazing to be there and see and hear it. definitely worth it.
Of course, another thing we saw was the Berlin wall. Which was actually underwhelming. I suppose when you think of a wall that separated families, friends, and caused so much uproar you sort of imagine a goliath, rather, it's a normal wall, and not the tallest I have ever seen. But hearing some of the stories the guide was telling us, I can imagine back when it was fully in opperation, it did well at it's job.
We also saw Checkpoint Charlie, Museum Island, the Reichstag, and a bunch of other stuff.. it was definitelz worth going on the tour.
My hostel is actually prettz nice here.. I don't think I am looking forward to moving on, hopefully the next place is good as well! From the Balconz on the top floor I have a clear view of the TV tower.. which is somewhat of a famous symbol of Berlin now adays
I really like it here. More than I thought I would actually. I would definitely come back some day. I guess it also helps that the weather is FANTASTIC! and I am getting nice and brown and tanned :D. More to tell but the internet is running out so I have to run. Hope everyone is doing great!
Mylis
Germany's Flag
Map of Germany